Coal-tipple.



A. ALLEN.

COAL TIPPLE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 29. 1911.

1,032,800. 7 Patented July 16, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHBBT 1.

A TTOR/VEYS COLUMBIA ILANUGRAI'H cu.. WASHINGTON. I). c.

A. ALLEN.

GOAL TIPPLE.

APPLICATION FILED 19120.29, 1911.

1,032,800. Patented July 16, 1912.

35 j r? T w E 1. :1 M 5 WITNESSES:

' 0 z INVENTOR WWW COLUMBIA PLANDORAPH 120., WASHINGTON, Dv c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREWS ALLEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB T0 ALLEN & GARCIA COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

'COAL-TIPPLE.

Application filed December 29, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREWS ALLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coal-Tipples, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to hoisting towers in general, and more particularly to such towers as are used in connectionwith coal tipples and the like, where movable cages, drifts or plat-forms are raised and lowered by means of cables passing over hoisting sheaves or pulleys above the cages or skips, and operated by an outside source of power.

My invention aims to produce a structure of this kind which will be strong durable and compact; which will be cheap to construct, efficient in operation, and which will provide a more easy access to the drifts or platforms than is possible with those in use.

The towers of this sort commonly in use consist of a complicated framework having vertical or inclined posts at the corners and at intervals along the longer side thereof. These posts are connected by horizontal members to which :the guides are attached. Guides so positioned are therefore merely supported at intervals throughout their length by these transverse members, necessitating that both the guides and the trans- Verse members be of exceedingly heavy and strong material to resist the thrusts due to the rapidly moving cages and their sudden starting and stopping that must of necessity be directed against the guides intermediate of their supported points, and subsequently against and at right angles to the transverse members. The erection of these towers efiiciently built of material heavy enough to withstand the forces applied to them in the manner hereinbefore set forth, has been extremely expensive and repairs thereon and the replacing of any members which may break or bend have been exceedingly difficult becauseof the cumbersome nature of the material. Necessity of repairs on towers of this sort is of constant recurrence, as in cases of accident, such as the sudden jamming of the skips or the breaking of the cables and the attendant severe outward and downward thrusts due to the action of the safety catches, the transverse application of unusual force to the horizontal members gives rise to frequent breakage. This Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 668,511.

method of supporting the guides compels the strains and stresses throughout the struc' ture to be transmit-ted to the ground by a series of angular-1y connected members necessitating around the bottom of such towers an intricate arrangement of legs and braces which are very much in the way and which retard materially the eflicient operation of the. skips. In the common form of construction, the hoisting sheaves are positioned either on a super-structure practically independent of the guide-supportinstructure or between a plurality of gir ers placed across the top of the rectangular framework. The hoisting sheaves of a coal tipple are subject to sudden and severe strains from the application of the force necessary to impart the required momentum to the loaded skips and more particularly from the sudden stopping of the skips when the cables becomes overwound on the drum of the outside source of power. It will be obvious therefore that where these suddenly applied forces must be withstood by members across which they act transversely, as in the case in the structures commonly in use for this purpose, expensive and heavy members must be employed and these members must be reinforcedby a considerable number of braces and struts.

My invention aims to produce a structure of this class wherein all the stress and strain produced by hoisting and supporting the skips or platforms will be transmitted to the ground or base in the most direct manner and one wherein these strains and stresses will be transmitted along the members of the construction instead of across them, eliminating thereby the use of the hereinbefore described heavy horizontal members.

A further aim of my invention is to. produce a structure which, while eliminating a large number of members heretofore consid ered indispensable to the efliciency of a tower of this sort by those skilled in the art, will sacrifice none of the benefits of the structures now in use and which will possess features of strength and durability that are not found therein.

Further aims and advantages of my vention will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description which, taken in connection with the {\CCOITI. panying drawing, forms one embodiment thereof.

Patented July 16, 1912. p

Referring to the drawings :Figure 1 is a side elevation of a coal tip'ple embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is aview looking toward the left of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 1, Fig. T is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 44; of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a side elevation of Fig. 4.

On the drawings like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the various figures.

For the purpose of my invention I have provided the base 11, preferably formed of concrete, but which may obviously be of any suitable material and of any desirable form. I have shown it as furnishing the support for the row of columns 12, 13 and 1 1, though obviously a separate support may be provided for every column, and where it is desired to position the t-ipple over a shaft of a mine the bottoms of the columns may be embedded in the concrete casing of the shaft or, when such casing is absent, a continuous reinforced concrete frame extending a suflicient distance on each side of the shaft to provide a firm foundation adapted to receive the ends of the columns may be constructed. The columns are each formed of two channel-irons 15, which are placed in spaced apart relation with their flanges disposed outwardly. The end columns 12 and let have the outermost faces of the channel-irons 15 connected together throughout their length by the lattice 16 and both faces of the channel-irons 15 forming the central column 13, as well as the inner faces of the channel-irons forming the columns 12 and 1 1, have disposed across their faces and fastened thereto at frequent intervals between the top and bottom of the columns the series of plates 17. Upon the plates 17 extending throughout the length of the columns are provided the guides 18 which may be made integral with the plates 17 or which may be merely aflixed thereto, between which are sliclably mounted the cages or platforms 19 adapted to move vertically.

Above the tops of the columns are located the hoisting sheaves 20 and 21, the former being, journaled between the members 22 and the latter between the members 23. The members 22 are supported at the junction of the upper ends of the members 2 1 extending from the top of the column 14 in an inclined position, the members 25 extending vertically upward from the top of the columns 13 and the main members 26 of the back brace 27 which extend from the foundation 28 .without the construction in an inclined direction, said members 26 being fastened near their upper ends to the tops of the channel-irons 15 of the column 12 and extending therebeyond to the members 22 to which they, as well as the upper extremities of the members 24 and 25, are rigidly fastened. The brace 27 comprises in addition to the said members 26 the members 29 extending from the base 28 to a point above the center of the channel-irons 15 of the column 12 to which they are attached, the members 26 and 29 being connected at intervals throughout their length by the cross pieces 30. The'members 23 are provided with bearings for the hoisting sheave 21 and are attached to the channel-irons 15 of the column 12 and to the members 26 of the back-brace 27 where these channel-irons and the members of the back-brace intersect. To retain the members forming the supports for the sheaves 20 and 21 in position and to prevent the tops of the columns from separating, I have provided the members 30 positioned across the top of the columns and attached thereto to which are aflixed the supports 24. and 25. The skips 19 are connected to the drum of some outside source of power (not shown) by means of the cables or ropes 81 which are disposed over the hoisting sheaves 20 and 21.

To retain the upper portion of the weighing house, designated as a whole as 32 and which may be of any desired construction, I have provided about the columns and the back-brace 26 the superstructure 83 which serves also to stiffen the columns and the back-brace and adds materially to the strength thereof. This super-structure may be of any desired form and of any desired material, but which I have shown as constituted of built-up framework comprising the combination of the plates 34, the angle-irons 3-5, channel-irons 36 and I-beans 37, having the central apertures through which the skips are adapted to pass. Thus it is seen that the columns, the back-brace and the elevating cables 31 fall in approximately the same general plane, causing also the stress and strain produced within the structure to fall within the said plane. The columns are vadapted to have transmit-ted throughout their length to the ground the vertical forces while the force resulting from the pull of the engines on the cables 31 will fall along the back-brace 23 or between the back-brace and the vertical column 12.

It will 'be obvious that a tower embodying my invention may be constructed without the need of the corner-posts and the cumbersome horizontal members connecting them that have heretofore been considered indis pensable to those versed in the art and without sacrificing any of the features of strength and stiffness found in the types at present in use. It will be obvious that the forces which arise therein when the skips are operated will be transmitted along the members to the ground more directly than is possible with the hoisting towers commonly in use.

I have provided a tower that is simple in construction, efiicient in operation, .having therein none of the attendant inconveniencesof the ordinary structure, and onewhich may be built for a small fraction of the cost attendant upon the installation of such a construction before my invention.

Where these towers are intended for use over the shaft of a mine my construction presents peculiar advantages in that no framework or metal adjacent the ground is required that may be corroded or destroyed by the gases issuing from the shaft. Where the tower is intended for such use I provide reinforced concrete columns or protect those hereinbefore described with a coating of concrete, thus entirely preventing rust and disintegration of the parts intimately in contact with the gases of the shaft of the mine.

lVhere it is desired to arrange the engines or source of power at one side of the structure rather than at the end, it is only necessary to provide a series of back-braces, one for each column, the sheaves being carried on short girders or brackets between them.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form, construction and arrange ment of the parts of my invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, or sacrificing any of its advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely one embodiment thereof.

I claim 1. In a coal tipple, the combination of vertical columns, guides mounted on said columns, cages located between and movable on said guides, sheaves mounted above said columns and adapted to receive the hoisting cables, a back-brace located without the construction and in line with said sheaves, and a horizontal skeleton framework embracing the vertical columns and the back-brace.

2. In a coal tipple, the combination of a row of vertical columns, cages adapted to move between said columns, a back-brace attached to said columns, sheaves mounted within said back-brace at the top thereof, and hoisting cables passing over said sheaves, connecting the cages to an outside source of power, said back-brace being sub stantially in the plane of said hoisting cables, and being disposed substantially along the resultant of the forces exerted by the hoisting cables.

3. In a coal tipple, the combination of a row of vertical columns, a back-brace in line with the vertical columns and inclined thereto, cages located between the vertical columns and movable thereon, and means for raising and lowering the cages, said means being located in line with the columns and the back-brace.

at. In a coal tipp'le, the combination of a row of vertical columns, a back-brace in cages, said means being'in the same general plane as the vertical columns and the backbrace, and a horizontal reinforcing framework embracing the vertical columns and the back-brace.

5. In a coal tipple, the combination of a base, a row of vertical columns mounted on said base, a back-brace in line with said vertical columns having one end attached thereto, and the other end attached to a base without the construction, cages located between the columns, and means for raising and lowering the cages, said raising and lowering means being in substantially the same vertical plane as the columns and the backbrace.

6. In a coal tipple, the combination of a concrete base, a row of vertical columns mounted in said base, said columns being formed of non-corrosive material, guides mounted on the columns, cages located between the guides and movable thereon, a back-brace having one end attached to a concrete base without the construction, and the other end attached to one vertical column, said back brace being formed of structural steel, and being in line with. the verti' cal columns, and a horizontal reinforcing frame of built-up structural metal embracing the columns and the back-brace.

7. In a coal tipple, the combination of a pair of vertical columns defining a cageway, a back brace inclined to the vertical in the same plane with and connected to the columns and rising above the same, a sheave carried by the back brace and disposed in vertical alinement with the cageway, a cage working between and upon the columns, and a cable suspending the cage from the sheave and extending from the latter at the back brace side of the tipple and in the same vertical plane therewith, substantially as described.

8. In a coal tipple, the combination of a house, a pair of vertical columns alined transversely across one end of the house and defining a cageway, a substantially horizontal superstructure connecting the columns to the house between the ends of the columns and embracing the cageway, a back brace inclined to the vertical in the same plane with and connected to the columns and extending above the latter, a cage working in the cageway and on the columns, a sheave carried by the upper portion of the back brace and alined above the cageway, and a cable suspending the cage from the sheave and extending from the latter at the back brace side of the tipple and in the same vertical plane therewith.

9. A coal tipple comprising a single series cated above the respective cageways, and hoisting cables suspending the cages from the respective sheaves and extending from the latter at the back brace side of the 15 tipple and in the same vertical plane therewith.

ANDREWS ALLEN.

WVitnesses v M. A. Kinnm, IRA J. WILSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C. 

